In the years
before the advent of commercial aviation, the only way for someone who
wanted to emigrate from somewhere on the European continent to another
country was by ship.

At first there
were clipper ships. Then shipping lines, that usually shipped livestock or
merchandise across the Atlantic, that, after unloading their cargo returned
to their port of origin with any empty hold, decided it would be profitable
to transport human cargo. And so they did. Eventually the ships became
bigger, better and faster. They then began to transport passengers in both
directions, many in the steerage compartments, as well as others who could
pay for better accommodations.

But, how was the emigrant and
perhaps other members of their family, to get to one of the many ports in
Europe so they could board the ship that would take them on a transatlantic
voyage? In the early 1900s, there were cars, though it is doubtful that the
majority of those wanting to go to such ports as Antwerp (Belgium), Bremen
or Hamburg (Germany), or Le Havre (France), arrived there in this manner.
Though one could get there on the back of a horse-drawn wagon, and some did,
many who could afford both a ship ticket and a railroad ticket, went
to the nearest railroad station where they could board a train that
would take them to their port of interest.

As shown in the
photo on the left, sometimes the shipping company even arranged train
transportation for the prepaid ship passenger.

photo: cover
of the railroad's Rates of Fare from Germany, Austria and
Switzerland to the ports of Hamburg and Le Havre.

GOING TO AMERICACzernowitz (Cernauti) Railroad Station
1936

Berl Schreiber (seen by the window of the railroad car) is leaving
Czernowitz for the United States.
He will be traveling from the port city of Le Havre, France, aboard the
SS Normandie
(the most modern ocean liner at the time), arriving a number of
days later
at Ellis Island. B. Schreiber will be
visiting his brother who lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Standing on the platform, l. to r., is Mizzi Schreiber,
her sister-in-law
Fanny Klein,
Fanny's husband (and Mizzi's brother) Kubi Klein,
Duzi Schreiber (husband of Mizzi and brother of Fanny).

THE NORMANDIE
ARRIVES IN MANHATTAN
14 September 1938

Birds-eye view
of crowded dock to lower left, water and full-length view
of ocean liner Normandie with tug to right and Palisades in distance.
North River, Manhattan, from Pier 88.

SS Normandie was a French ocean liner
built in Saint-Nazaire,
France for the French Line, Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
(CGT). When launched in 1932 she was the largest and fastest ship
in the world, and she maintains the distinction of being the most
powerful steam turbo-electric
propelled passenger ship ever built.Her novel design features and lavish interiors
have led many to consider her the greatest of all ocean liners.
Despite this, she was not a commercial successcand relied partly
on government subsidy to operate. During her service career as the
flagship of
the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, she regularly sailed
transatlantic
crossings between her home port of Le Havre
and the port of New York.

During World War II,
Normandie was seized by United States authorities at New York and
renamed USS Lafayette.
In 1942, while being converted to a troopship,
the liner caught fire, capsized, and sank at the New York Passenger Ship Terminal.
Although she was salvaged at great expense, restoration of the
vessel was deemed too costly, and she was scrapped in October
1946.

After
more fitting out and final touches, the maiden voyage came on May
29, 1935. Fifty thousand people came to Le Havre to see the large
ship off, on what was hoped would be a record-breaking crossing.
And indeed it was. Normandie reached New York after just four
days, three hours and fourteen minutes....

photo (gelatin print) of Normandie courtesy of the New York Public Library
Digital Gallery. Text concerning SS Normandie courtesy of
Wikipedia.